RESOURCES FOR UN DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES REPORTED TO BE LAGGING, AS TWO-DAY PLEDGING CONFERENCE BEGINS

Press Release
DEV/2221
GA/9647

RESOURCES FOR UN DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES REPORTED TO BE LAGGING, AS TWO-DAY PLEDGING CONFERENCE BEGINS

European Union, Other Delegates Decline To Contribute, Arguing That Format Has Outlived Its Usefulness and Should Be Changed

The annual two-day United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities opened this morning, with 21 Member States pledging contributions to support the development activities of the United Nations system.

The Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, said the United Nations system operational activities for development were an essential source of support to the majority of Member States. He called on all Governments to take the opportunity provided by the Conference to reaffirm their commitment to United Nations development cooperation.

Funding for the United Nations, however, continued to lag even at a time when the Organization was being called on to do more than ever. In 1998, core resources made available to the operational activities of United Nations programmes, and funds for development were about $1.6 billion or $30 million less than amounts for 1997. Levels of official development assistance (ODA) seemed to be increasing, after reaching an all-time low in 1997. The challenge now was to translate this trend into financing for United Nations operational activities.

The representative of Finland, speaking for the European Union and associated States, said today’s Pledging Conference had outlived its usefulness. For the first time this year, no European Union member State would announce pledges at this event. Rather, they would inform the funds and programmes separately of their annual contributions. The General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council should consider formally abolishing the annual pledging conference.

Several other speakers stressed the need to abolish the current format of the Pledging Conference and discuss alternative ways to fund development activities, including a system of negotiated pledges to assure greater reliability. Others expressed concern at the lack of core resources for United Nations system operational activities for development.

At this morning’s Conference, pledges were made for activities of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), and a number of United Nations trust funds.

Pledges were made by the representatives of Bangladesh, Colombia, Kuwait, Myanmar, Romania, Mexico, San Marino, Uganda, Egypt, Poland, Liechtenstein, Russian Federation, Singapore, Cuba, Algeria, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Ghana, Tunisia and Benin.

The representatives of the Republic of Korea, Lesotho and Czech Republic also made statements.

At the outset of the meeting, the Conference elected Zbigniew Matuszewski (Poland) as its President; and Fabio Cassese (Italy), Ruben Espinoza (Peru) and Alisher Vohidov (Uzbekistan) as Vice-Presidents.

The Pledging Conference will continue tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Statements

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said this year’s Pledging Conference was taking place at a time when the United Nations was being asked to do more while faced with stagnating and declining core resources. Despite the implementation of major reforms, the resources needed to meet the requirements of operational activities for development were shrinking, and recent figures on official development assistance (ODA) showed that contributions fell to a record low level of $48.3 billion in 1997 –- about 4 per cent lower than the year before. Initial indications, however, were that this negative trend might be reversed in 1998.

Contributions to the United Nations funds and programmes, however, did not indicate this reversal of negative trends, and while ODA rose by around 9 per cent over the 1997 low, funding for the United Nations continued to lag, he noted. In an environment of renewed increases in overall ODA, it remained a challenge to everyone to continue to work creatively to translate those positive global trends into sustained development financing for operational activities of the United Nations funds and programmes. In 1998, core resources made available to the United Nations funds and programmes were about $1.6 billion or a decline in nominal terms of $30 million over 1997. He went on to highlight the particularly alarming decline of contributions to core resources of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to a low of $760 million in 1998, while for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), contributions to core resources dropped by more than 20 per cent, from $337 million to $268 million, between 1997 and 1998.

He stressed that the United Nations system operational activities for development were an essential source of support to the majority of Member States. They had certain special characteristics of universality, impartiality and neutrality. He called on all Governments to take the opportunity provided by the Conference to reaffirm their strong and continued commitment to United Nations development cooperation.

Turning to the reform process initiated by the Secretary-General, he said there was widespread recognition of its successful implementation and that the main reason for the reforms was the achievement of an increased level of core resources and greater predictability and sustainability in the funding of the organization. Programmes of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for children in 170 countries required funding of $1.5 billion by 2005, which implied an annual growth rate in income of 7 per cent. The Organization now had stronger ties with the Bretton Woods institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations, service organizations, the private sector and every facet of civil society.

Regrettably, there was a significant decline in the core resources of the UNFPA, particularly resources for programme activities, he said. The greatest restraint faced by countries was a lack of political will, particularly among donor countries, to provide the resources the UNFPA needed. The continuing decline had critically held back the implementation of the Organization’s multi- year country programmes. He called on the international community to renew their commitments to United Nations goals and to reflect this in the pledges they made to the United Nations operational activities.

AIRA PAIVOKE (Finland) spoke on behalf of the European Union, as well as the associated States of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Norway. She drew attention to General Assembly resolution 50/227 which stated that the governing bodies of each programme and fund should decide on their own funding arrangements, and that a decision on the Pledging Conference’s future should be taken in light of review by the Assembly of funding modalities.

The extensive funding processes had been carried out by the Organization's agencies since the adoption of that resolution, she continued. As a result, governing bodies had been able to adopt the results-oriented, multi-year funding frameworks currently being implemented. Those had impacted on United Nations operational activities and resources. Also, policy issues concerning funding had been considered in an Assembly triennial policy review, held last year. Resolution 53/192 invited the Economic and Social Council to consider, on an annual basis, the overall financial picture of the funds and programmes.

She said the European Union believed that the necessary steps had been taken to fulfil the Assembly legislation and to bring the funding processes within the funds and programmes where they belonged. This Pledging Conference had outlived its usefulness. For the first time this year, no European Union member State would announce pledges at this event. The Union strongly believed this should be the last pledging conference. It would like to see the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly pursue its formal abolition next year. Members of the Union would, as appropriate, inform the funds and programmes individually of their annual contributions.

Pledges Made

Bangladesh

UNDP $400,000 UNDP Local 1,100,000 Taka UNICEF $ 32,000 UNFPA $ 25,000 UNEP $ 2,550 UNV $ 1,000 Habitat $ 1,500 UNIFEM $ 1,000 Fund of United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) $ 1,000 UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) $ 3,000

Colombia

UNDP $450,000 UNDP Local $200,000 UNICEF $450,000 UNFPA $ 40,000 UNEP $ 37,000 Habitat $ 12,000 INSTRAW $ 2,000

Kuwait

UNDP $510,000 UNICEF $200,000 UNIC $200,000 UNFPA $100,000 UNDCP $200,000

Myanmar

UNDP 1,080,000 kyats UNCDF $ 5,000 UNFPA 60,000 kyats

Romania

UNDP 1,050,000,000 lei UNDP Local 350,000,000 lei UNICEF 150,000,000 lei UNIC 750,000,000 lei UNFPA 150,000,000 lei

Mexico

UNDP $1,000,000 UNICEF $ 200,000 UNFPA $ 50,000 INSTRAW $ 10,000 San Marino

Protection of Children Affected by Armed Conflict $ 15,000 Landmine Activities $ 15,000

Uganda

UNDP $ 2,000 UNICEF $ 2,000 UNFPA $ 1,500 HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) $ 1,500 WFP $ 1,000 UNHCR $ 1,000 UNIFEM $ 1,000 INSTRAW $ 1,500

Egypt

UNDP (Voluntary) 401,295 Egyptian pounds UNDP (Accounts) 197,115 “ “ UNICEF 100,000 “ “ UNFPA 350,000 “ “ UNHCR 20,000 “ “ Habitat 20,000 “ “ UNIFEM 2,000 “ “ INSTRAW $ 2,000 UNV $ 3,000

Poland

UNDAF 1,800,000 zlotys UNFPA 104,000 zlotys UNICEF 208,000 zlotys Habitat $ 10,000

Liechtenstein

Victims of Torture 10,000 Swiss francs UNAIDS 10,000 “ “ UNICEF 7,000 “ “ UNIFEM 10,000 “ “ UNDP 15,000 “ “

Russian Federation

UNDP $ 450,000 UNICEF $ 500,000 UNFPA $ 150,000 Habitat $ 130,000

Singapore

UNDP $ 300,000 UNICEF $ 50,000 UNDCP $ 5,000 UNEP $ 15,000 UNIFEM $ 40,000

Cuba

UNIDO 21,000 Cuban pesos UNICEF 110,000 “ “

Algeria

UNDP 100,000 Algerian dinars UNFPA 300,000 “ “

Maldives

UNDP $ 7,500 UNICEF $ 7,500 UNCDF $ 2,000 UNFPA $ 3,000 UNITAR $ 500 UNIFEM $ 1,700

Saudi Arabia

UNDP $3,500,000 UNICEF $1,000,000 UNDCP $ 50,000 UNFPA $ 30,000

Yemen

UNDP $ 40,000 UNICEF $ 16,730 UNCDF $ 3,585 WFP $ 3,847 UNHCR $ 2,160 UNIDO $ 2,000 UNITAR $ 2,000 Habitat $ 575 UNIFEM $ 2,676 UNFSTD (Fund for Science in the Service of Development) $ 1,000

Ghana

UNICEF $ 5,000 UNFPA $ 12,500 WFP $ 5,000 UNHCR $ 5,000 UNITAR $ 5,000 Habitat $ 5,000 UNEP $ 5,000 UNIFEM $ 5,000 UNSO $ 5,000

Tunisia

UNDP local 150,000 Tunisian Dinars UNDP 257,000 “ “ UNV 5,000 “ “ UNDCP 2,732 “ “ Social Defence 1,500 “ “ Fund for Torture Victims 3,000 “ “ UNITAR 1,960 “ “ UNICEF 37,000 “ “ UNFPA 25,000 “ “ Habitat 976 “ “

Benin

UNDP $ 7,500 UNICEF $ 4,500 UNFPA $ 4,000 UNHCR $ 2,000 UNEP $ 2,000 Fund for Least Developed Countries $ 1,000 UNSO $ 1,000 FAO $ 2,000

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